My child was born.

My child was born last month.
I will write something interesting while we raise up him.

In Japan, when a mother has a baby, the hospital gives
her "umbilical cord" if you ask for, as the commemoration.

It seems to be unique to Japanese culture.

Do you have such a culture in your culture?

And parents put it in the box of paulownia wood.

We did so.

However, umbilical cord looks strange.

When people have a child, people visit a shrine to pray for child's

health a few month later.

We are planning to visit to a neighbor shrine in March or April.

The end of the year

  This year is about to end. The public office, such as
city hall is open until 28th December.
  In this season, people are very busy.
  In Japan, we have a custom of sending a post card,
called ''Nenga-jou''
to your friends, relatives, co-wokers, and so on at
the beginning of the year. It is a sort of greeting card.
 If your friend live outside  of your prefecture, you have
 to post your post cards until 25th so the cards arrive
on 1st January.
   It's good oppotunity to say hello to your friends
who you haven't talked to for a long time.
  There days, there are some TV shows that introduce
big news in this year.


  We say, ''Yoi otoshi wo!!(Have a good New Year)''
 when you say good-bye to someone.

A photo of the countryside in Japan

  When you visit an unknown place, sometimes you may find a nice scenery.
It may not be a historical place but a just a simple road.
  One day, I found a road.
  It was just a simple road.
  But it seemed to be something warm in my heart.

Japanese traditional culture Inu no hi mairi Visit on Dog's day

Hello, it's been a while.

I went to the shrine in my town. The reason is that my wife has gotten

pregnant. We visited this shrine to pray for the fortune.

Dog has a lot of babies. So it is said that dog is the God of

giving birth. 

Foreign Tourists in Japan

  Japanese tour industries are trying to increase the
number of tourists from abroad.
  Chinese tourists buy tons of Japanese goods
when they come to Japan. Now, Japanese people
do not consume like Chinese. Therefore,  home
electric appliance shop and other stores rely on
their buying power.
  The number of foreing tourists have increased
tremendously because Japanese government
has shifted the plicy.
  On the other hand, some troubles have happend
between Japanese resident and foreign tourists.
  This is because of the difference of common sense
between cultures. I watched the news about the problem.
I saw Japanese who are complaining about the garbage
foreign tourists throw away.
  And in my impression, foreing people tend to speak loudly
in public compared to Japanese people.
  I think such difference of consciousness cause the problem
between Japanese and foreign tourists.
  I think this kind of problem often happen everywhere
in the world.
  


 

Japanese democracy

  This year is 70th anniversary since WW2 ended in 1945.
8th August was the day of end of the war. (I heard that
the anniversary of the end of the war is different in each country)
  The idea of "democracy" came from Europe more than 100 years ago.
  However, as the voting rate at the election is always low(less than 50%),
many Japanese people do not take an action politically.
  Probably, because Japanese people is disappointed with
most of the politicians, they think no one can change the situation.

  However, the circumstances are changing little by little.
The biggest issue we are facing now is "Security-related bills".
This law is under discussion at the House of Councilors.
  If this bill is passed, the Self-Defense Forces of  Japan
gains the legal grounds of dispatching the troops in abroad
as the collective right to self-defense".
  "The collective right to self-defense" is the right to attack
the army because the allied nation is attacked by the country.
  If the Japanese army did that, Japan may be involved with
the battle in other country.
  Japanese people who say "No!" are increasing.
  People are showing the rejection of the bills
through demo.
As Japanexperienced the terrible situation after
the war, the  persistence to the peace is
veeeeeeeery strong.
In my opinion, Japan must assist other countries
not through military assistance but through building infrastructures,
educational aid, or technical aid. That assistance would
prevent from involving the war.
 
  I have the legal background. So, this time, I tried to write an essay
 on my field in English. After I learn English words related on
my field, I try to write about social problem in Japan.
 


  I have
 

Japanese lifestyle It has been very hot in Japan now.

  It has been very hot in Japan now.
The temperature is often more then 38 degree.
The plants in the garden may die if you water them.
However, as the outside temperature becomes very high,
you have to do such work early in the morning.
Today, I watered plants in the garden at 5:30 a.m.
 
  From 13th August to 16th August, it is the special period
in Japan. It is called Obon. People in urban area like Tokyo,
go back to their hometown and spend hours with their parents.
Children spend their grandfather and grandmother during this
period. It is said that the soul of the ancestor come back
to the family only in this period. This custom comes from the
idea of Buddhism.
  I think I have already introduced this Obon before on this blog.

  I go to the Tochigi prefecture where my wife's parents and
relatives live. It is about 2.5 hours by car from my hometown.